Ljuba Welitsch studied singing in Sofia under Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin.and
continued her studies in Vienna. In 1936 she debuted in Sofia
and from 1937 to 1940 she was engaged at the Stadttheater in
Graz. In 1944 she debuted at the Staatsoper in Vienna as Saloma
in celebration of the 80th birthday of Richard Strauss. At this
occasion she was coached by Strauss himself.

From 1946
to 1962 she was engaged at the Staatsoper. On 4 Feb 1949 she
was a memorable Salome during her first performance at the Metropolitan
Opera in New York. It was broadcasted and widely regarded as
the best interpretation of Salome of all time.

In 1956
she surprised everybody by marrying Karl Chmalvogel, a traffic
policeman who had helped her father after an accident. He was
fourteen years younger than she was. The marrigage lasted until
1969. In later years she had voice problems and she appeared
mostly in operettas. She also appeared in movies as a comedian.